Astral Boutique's blog

Tropical Fever

If you've looked in my shop lately, you've seen that I have become obsessed with bright tropical prints. My hunger for colors has never felt more insatiable- next thing I am going to want to decorate my room with inflatable palm trees and lawn flamingos like I used to have it in 1986 when I was a Miami Vice obsessed pre-teen. I don't foresee any plane tickets to Tahiti in my immediate future, but in a way that makes my dreams of the tropics even, well, dreamier, because right now they exist for me only in imagination and myth. And in Henri Rousseau paintings....

Paintings by Henri Rousseau. Dresses can be found in the shop.

One of my favorite songs about having a good time in the land of the sun:

Warning: silliest video ever.

Guitars In Nature

Today me and Chris went up the hill to do some photos of the guitars that he's listing in his Etsy shop, Cosmic Yardsale. Here are some of my favorites:

This one is called The Stickermobile. It plays great!

Time to rock:

This one is called the Feathercaster- it looks good and sounds awesome! The feathers were done by a good friend of ours. Electronics upgraded by Chris.

My dress is from Jessica at Brightest Star- it's one of my favorite pieces in my closet! Sparrrkley...

My favorite part of this photo shoot was my headpiece, which I threw together right before we walked up the hill. Thanks to Sadie Rose from Lost Boys and Lovers for gifting me this vintage mesh bow that served as the base!

Rock on, my friends!

 

My Love Is Ever Blazin'

This Fall, my wardrobe solution for the plummeting mercury has become the Blazer. It's like a whole new world to me- a fitted, lightweight-yet-warm piece of clothing that can make you look semi-Serious when you need to meet a potential landlord or drop your car off at the mechanic and appear like a person who won't have the wool pulled over their eyes. Someone sort of... business-like. As in, "I Mean Business". Especially if the rest of your outfit screams "flaming hippie".

Blazer, thrifted; dress, Gina Michele Vintage on Etsy; super high black ribbed stocking, Sock Dreams; necklace, Flaming Hag Folkwear, Sacramento; beret and boots, Freestyle Clothing Exchange, Roseville

Some of you have known about blazers for years, it seems. You have been rocking them as Mods, as Preppies, and as that kind of Casually Elegant person that I have seen eating at fancy restaurants in big cities. The blazers seem to have been working for you. Can I join your club? 

I did actually have a blazer once, in high school. It was an oversized black men's blazer. The look was completed by cut-off jean shorts with writing all over them, ironed hair that was bleached with Sun-In, and my Morrissey t-shirt for Viva Hate. I wore that thing everywhere... and then, I guess, I got Total Blazer Amnesia.

Chris, for his part, has been trying to get me into them for years. We even had a joke that his "other wife" wore blazers, since he would invariably always find one and show it to me excitedly when we went shopping together... only to be met with a blank stare again and again. I never took the bait, for some reason.

I don't know if it is because this wardrobe staple has re-entered the collective unconscious by being particularly popular this year, but somehow the Blazer now seems like the only logical way to keep warm in Autumn weather. When it is too cold to go without a solid over-layer, but too warm for a jacket: well, you get the idea.

Blazer, thrifted; dress, Freestyle Clothing Exchange, Roseville; gloves, a gift from my mom

The funny thing is that blazers are seemingly magnetized towards me... so I have plenty of extras that I have put in my shop for you, should you get struck with the fever:

The "Peabody House" tiny fit wool blazer in neutral brown

The "Advisory Board" maroon corduroy blazer

The "Horses Are On The Track" tweed blazer

The "London Calling" plaid blazer

The "Pendleton" plaid blazer

(...there are even more in the shop, too, and another half dozen lined up to go in there ASAP, in shades of navy and dark brown!)

Blaze on, my friends. 

The Answer To My Prayers

Seen on my recent photo shoot in Empire Mine State Park, hanging out on this flower in the middle of the fountain:

It looked, for all the world, like this Praying Mantis owned the place!

While I'm a it, here's a few highlights, dress-wise, from my shoot:

Blue velvet 60s princess dress

80s hand-dyed (by me!) bubblegum pink Marie Antoinette Gunne Sax dress

Isadora Duncan meets Grecian goddess meets 1920s flapper meets 1970s disco glam!

Peacock blue lace dancing dress

Elaborately embroidered 1970s cotton bohemian dress, made in Pakistan

1970s maroon and ivory praire babe dress

Ah, the bohemian masterstroke- a black label 1960s Gunne Sax by Jessica, featuring a hand-stamped ethnic print (Thai? Balinese?), and fabulous mutton sleeves!

Hope you all have a great weekend.... I will see you on the other side of the Adventure!

High Sierra Highlights

Wow! Like Steve Miller says, "time keeps on slippin, slippin', into the future". I think that was my longest time between blogs ever! What can I say, it was the foggiest summer in San Francisco in decades, and we became the unofficial refuge for all of our friends seeking Vitamin D and warmth- I am not sure if we've ever had so many house guests! It was so good to catch up with everyone and their kids. But things moved awfully fast for a summer so filled with Slowing Down, and now it's September- huh? Personally, I want one last round of summer, and swimming, and that feeling that time is stretched out before me in an infinite line. I am a fan of Halloween, of changing leaves, and pumpkin pie, sure; but I have yet to be won over to shorter, colder days and the feeling of contraction that follows summers giddy expansion.

I have been spending a lot of time working on having Extra Good photos for the shop, which meant getting up early to catch the perfect light in the meadow up in the High Sierra that I love so much. I wanted to share some of my favorite photos, both of dresses and nature, with you. This beautiful Gunne Sax is off to be part of a "Rose White/Rose Red" costume for Halloween!

This tree stump was feeling a lot of love.

This super cute dirndl is still up for grabs at this moment- I love the brick red and moss green color combo!

I am pretty sure that this is a gooseberry... I have gotten past the prickles once before with one of these and eaten it, and it was delicious, but I left this one on the bush since it was the only one!

One thing I do love about Indian Summer/Fall is that suddenly browns and rusts look amazing... it must be the angle of the light! I am never drawn to them in mid-summer.

A meadow of Goldenrod.....

This Gunne is off to Scandinavia, to romp under the Northern Lights!

Never underestimate the beauty and the variety of wild grasses...

This beauty got snapped up right away, as I thought it would... honestly, who can resist white lace?

Thistles in their symmetrical, mandala-like loveliness.....

An especially lovely embroidered cotton dress from Mexico:

This is either Solomon's Seal of False Solomon's Seal... with berries!

Splendor in the grass with a Thai batik...

Oh my god, YUM. I have known about the Thimbleberry for a long time, but the berries have always been eaten before I could taste them. This particular day, I hit the motherlode, and was able to eat to my heart's content! Kind of like a raspberry.... delicious and wild.

I called this one Sugar Sugar cause it's so sweet.

Maples:

The "See You in September" dress. I think the name was responsible for this dress ending up in at least five Treasuries on Etsy so far!

I'm not sure what tree this is, but the berries sure are pretty... though definitely not the kind you want to eat.

This dress came from a private collection, and like everything else in the collection, it sold almost right away! I am such a 60s/70s loving girl that I forget ow popular the 50s are at the moment.... I am going to try to carry more 50s dresses in the store when I can find them! 

These trees seem to be hugging each other:

I love this "gypsy" skirt, originally from a San Francisco costume store in the 60s!

True Love 4-Ever.

Another Dream Dress in the Dream Meadow:

I don't normally like graffiti in nature, but I have to make an exception for this:

I hope you are all sailing through the seasonal transition, be it into Fall or Spring (depending on your Hemisphere)! 

Winning Smiles, Winning CDs

If you have noticed my sparse blogging lately, I apologize- but hopefully you are using summer as a chance to break away from the computer like I am! I have so many neat photos to share, from my recent shoots, but first things first- I was interviewed on the Very Coolest Blog Ever, and there is a little giveaway going on over there to win Sasha and the Shamrocks CDs! Head on over to The Ghoul Next Door and leave a comment to be entered to win. (I hope you enjoy the interview, too- it was a lot of fun to do.)

Now onto those photos.... Last week I took a trip up up up to an Alpine Valley where sits the little town of Sierraville, and did a photo shoot in the Quaking Aspen trees in the hills surrounding the valley. I had noticed these trees and their stunning bark every time I'd gone to soak at the hot springs at Sierraville, and always wanted to come back and take pictures. Suddenly I found myself making plans for the expedition, which was accomplished to a soundtrack of The Fairport Convention and The Steve Miller Band. I think luck and the fairies were on my side that day, because these are some of my favorite photos ever!

 

 

(there was gorgeous Mugwort in the High Sierras!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a bit blurry, but you can see the incredible colors on this insect! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naturally, I went to the hot springs between my morning and afternoon photo shoots, so I was feeling on top of the world! I think, at 5,000 feet, I actually was on top of a good part of the world... 

 
 

High Sierra Dreaming

The foothills are wonderful, but sometimes you got to get outta Dodge. Luckily, if you head East or North from Grass Valley, it is only about 15 minutes until you are in the true wilds of the Sierras. Yesterday, I felt the urge very strongly, and took a long  up the highway 20 to this beautiful nature trail at the head of the road to Lake Bowman. I know the tiger lilies in the wetland bloom sometime around now, but it changes every year, so I was crossing my fingers... and I was in luck! It was so gorgeous up there, above any last traces of smog which may have crept up from the Sacramento Valley, and totally temperate even though it had been 100 degrees at my house. It was so nice to take pictures with a different backdrop. Natural light can be soooooo frustrating (I had to wait a half hour for the sun to go behind a distant pine tree so I could capture this one shot perfectly... talk about being in the moment!), but the results can be magical. I certainly felt the presence of a multitude of Nature Divas (aka fairies, brownies, elves, etc.) in the crystalline air, and there were many, many voices mixed in the sounds of the Bear River. I didn't see any bears (I kept singing and snapping my fingers loudly, so that I wouldn't see any bears, don't worry, mom, I was thinking of you-- for some reason the soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange, which actually has some lovely ancient music on it, was what I was using as my self-defense!) but I did see tons of beautiful birds... and flocks of mosquitos, at dusk, when I literally had to run for my car to get away from them! I counted five on my arm at once. Argh! Maybe they liked the banana chips in my blood? I did eat a lot on the way up there... these days I am trying not to have any caffeine, except in emergencies, because it tweaks me out so badly, and I re-remembered that bananas give me a true boost of energy and stamina. Better than caffeine, actually. Anyway, here are some of my favorite shots... I hope you enjoy! The feather, incidentally, was waiting for me on a tree trunk on my path down the to tiger lilies. Serendipity!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you all are having a beautiful summer... I have been blogging a lot less, cause I have been making outdoor Rest and Relaxation a top priority. After this endlessly rainy winter, I am not taking the sunshine for granted! Sending good wishes to my readers in all corners of the globe. Wait, isn't a globe round? Hmmm. Must be a holdover phrase.........

Wear Your Love Like Heaven

This week I am lucky to have some pieces on consignment from my beautiful friend Candace! Candace is an artist, craftswoman, an avowed Donovan fan (the most important quality in a good friend, in my opinion), and wonderfully intelligent and sensitive spirit who happens to get a huge thrill out of fashion, which she is studying at art school. All I have to say about that is lucky for us, because that means that one day soon her intricate, inspired creations are going to grace the runways and our closets! I am sworn to secrecy about her latest projects, but let me say, you WANT them. All of them. Meanwhile, you can wear some of the lovely pieces from her amazing vintage clothing collection! 

Doesn't she belong on a record cover? Seriously now. Someone get on this. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Styling by Candace, of course! Girlfriend knows how to dress.)

A Strange Day

I honestly found these three items on the same day when I was thrifting- at three different places! Often a theme will emerge whilst thrifting (like the day I found seven black 70s jumpsuits- huh?), but this one takes the cake. Two mushroom themed pieces, and an opium poppy? 

 

 

 

 

Trippy times!

Arielle!

So I haven't been doing Shop Updates lately, cause I have been trickling things up so often, there doesn't seem to be a point where I have a bunch of pictures gathered together at once these days... but I have to encourage you to peep the shop to see the pictures from the week's photo shoot. I was so lucky to have my lovely friend Arielle model for me-- she totally helped with styling, too. I have never worked with someone who is such a pro in front of the camera-- and it helps that she is one of my very favorite people to hang with. Sadly (for me), Arielle is moving to Los Angeles, to pursue all of the opportunities that the City of Angels has to offer someone so talented-- she acts (like, really acts), writes, sings and plays guitar, does graphic design, and on top of that she can also crunch mad numbers as an accountant/business manager. She is the Real Deal. I am happy for her, but of course I am majorly bummed that we won't get to hang very often. We just started getting close in the last six months!

My advice to all of you who are in the sometimes long, sometimes awkward phase of developing new friendships: if you really like someone, put the time in NOW. You never know when the Bright Lights are going to lure them away! (And if you live in a big city, remember that the woods can lure people away, too- like they did to me!)

Some of my favorite shots:

 

 

*By the way, I probably won't be in Blog World for a few days, cause we are busy planning a massive party at our house. It started out as a kind of "BBQ with bands" and quickly took on a life of its own... now it is a mini version of Woodstock, with 22 acts performing! I will take pictures and share all about it when the dust settles... meanwhile, wish me luck!*